A day after the Shiv Sena suffered a setback in the Maharashtra Legislative Council polls, all eyes in Maharashtra are on senior party leader Eknath Shinde.
Hours after Shinde went incommunicado along with some Shiv Sena MLAs, party MP Sanjay Raut said Shinde is not in Mumbai but communication has been established with him.
Sources told PTI Shinde was camping along with some Sena MLAs at a hotel in Gujarat’s Surat city.
As per The Times of India, this is the list of MLAs believed to be supporting the 58-year-old Shinde:
List of MLAs believed to be supporting #EknathShinde #ShivSena #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/kOTDjXtq1h
— TOI Mumbai (@TOIMumbai) June 21, 2022
Let’s take a closer look at Shinde and how he has brought the Shiv Sena to the edge and thrown the future of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government also comprising the NCP and Congress into doubt:
Who is Shinde?
As per India Today, Shinde is a mass leader who has played a crucial role in strengthening the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra particularly in Thane.
The Shinde family originally belongs to Satara district and moved to Thane in the ’70s when Shinde was just a child, as per Indian Express.
As per Indian Express, before Shinde rose to become the most powerful leader in the Shiv Sena barring the Thackerays, he worked in a brewery and drove an autorickshaw to make ends meet.
As per News18, Shinde, while working odd jobs, was influenced by Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and Sena’s Thane District Chief Anand Dighe and joined the party in the 1980s.
Shinde became close to to then Thane district Sena president Anand Dighe, who ran the local unit with an iron fist and was instrumental in making the Shiv Sena a dominant force in the area. As Shinde modelled his appearance too after his mentor, Dighe had rewarded his loyalty with helping him win a seat in the Thane Municipal Corporation in 1997, as per the report.
He has the loyalty many party MLAs for being accessible – especially when an appointment at Matoshree can be tough – and being generous with economic largesse. He has been responsible for organising Sena’s major political events.
His son Shrikant is Sena's Member of Parliament from Kalyan.
Shinde has been elected for four back-to-back terms in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly: 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.
Like his mentor Dighe, Shinde is a man of few words not known for oratorial flourishes. What he has is an agitational and belligerent style of functioning and, till now, deep loyalty to the Sena – all qualities that have helped his rise in the party, Indian Express.
He was named Leader of the Opposition in 2014 after the Shiv Sena and the BJP fell out with each other.
When the Maha Vikas Aghadi government was formed, Shinde became cabinet minister for Urban Development and Public Works (Public Undertakings). He is currently the minister of urban affairs.
He recently accompanied Maharashtra Minister Aaditya Thackeray on his trip to Ayodhya.
Why is he upset?
As per India Today, there have been reports that Shinde is upset with the Sena leadership for allegedly being side-lined.
Shiv Sena sources told The Indian Express the Shiv Sena’s decision to override his suggestion that the party contest the Thane Municipal Corporation polls alone might have been the final straw.
Shinde, who was categorically told that the party would contest in alliance with the NCP and Congress, reportedly took affront to both the content and the manner of the communication via leaders including Sanjay Raut, as per the newspaper report.
Shinde, who holds the department of urban development, wants to become the deputy chief minister, a Congress minister told PTI on condition of anonymity.
"An upheaval was going on in the Shiv Sena for nearly a week", the leader said.
There’s another angle to this as well. As per The Times of India, the political turmoil in Maharashtra over cross voting in legislative Assembly in favour of BJP by ruling party MLAs is believed to be the reason behind the MLAs suddenly going missing from Mumbai and reaching Surat.
The development can further lead to instability in the Uddhav Thackeray government, sources told the newspaper.
What happens next?
The BJP might be getting ready to make a move.
As per NDTV, the party’s top leader in Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis reached Delhi and met Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Sena MLAs may be moved to Ahmedabad where they may have a meeting with Shah, sources told NDTV.
As per Free Press Journal, the BJP state government in Gujarat has provided police security to Sena legislators.
Shinde's supporters have insisted that the Shiv Sena should not be allied with the NCP and the Congress. However, they say they are open to continuing with the Sena, but only after the Sena joins the BJP in forming a new government, as per the report.
According to legislators present in Surat, Shinde and 35 other legislators are present. This would clear the numbers required to pass anti-defection law, and would enable the governor to call for a floor test in the Assembly, as per the report.
Some legislators reported confusion as to why they had been summoned to Gujarat at all, and that they do not know what they are doing in Surat, FPJ further reported.
State BJP chief Chandrakant Patil told the newspaper if he received a proposal from Shinde's camp requesting to join the BJP, he would accept. However, he declined to comment on any potential collapse of the MVA government.
Shiv Sena calls meet
A meeting is underway on Tuesday between Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and Shiv Sena top leaders and MLAs.
Thackeray, who is also the Shiv Sena president, held a meeting where party MLAs Sunil Kadam, Dada Bhuse, Neelam Gorhe, MPs Arvind Sawant and Vinayak Raut, MLC Manisha Kayande and other leaders were present.
Raut has alleged that there is a conspiracy to topple the Uddhav Thackeray-led government in the "same pattern" as in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
"Shiv Sena is a party of loyalists. We won't let that happen," Raut was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
He also said Shinde was a trusted Shiv Sainik, and that the 'missing' MLAs will be back after the party is able to reach out the them.
No doubt the Congress and NCP are watching the developments closely.
State NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal said he does not feel that there is a threat to the Maharashtra Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government.
"The Shiv Sena and Congress MLAs cross-voted in the polls on Monday. The Shiv Sena has 55 MLAs and three of its ministers are from smaller parties and Independents. The Shiv Sena has the support of some 59 MLAs. Still, both its candidates got 26 votes each, just managing to complete the quota of first preference votes. Even three Congress MLAs cross-voted," Bhujbal claimed.
With inputs from agencies
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June 21, 2022 at 02:25PM
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